Rise of the Red Knight
by zoth Zotherson
Summary: With Heathcliff having been revealed as Kayaba Akihiko, Kirito is on the hunt for the Red Knight, a player rumored to be even more powerful than Heathcliff. With only 25 floors left can he and the Red Knight clear the remaining floors and survive doing it! OC and Kirito centric.


**Sword Art Online**

**Act 1: Art of the Sword**

It was very cloudy day in Aincrad. '_Hmm... very ominous' _a handsome, raven-haired boy thought. He wore a black trench coat over a black V-necked shirt and black pants that covered part of his black boots. The boy then stood up, dusted himself off and looked at the horizon. Having gained a determined look, he gripped the handle of his sword tighter and tighter until his hands turn white, ' _we're almost there. Just 25 more floors to go and then we'll be home Asuna_' he thought. Sprinting towards the outline of nearby building, he fails to notice the auburn haired beauty smiling at him, ' _you go Kirito, go and save us all.' _

**Part 1: Might of the Red Knight**

Sitting in one of the many inns located throughout the 100 floors of Aincrad, Kirito sat with Argo, " So... you want to know where the Red Knight is ? Well you're officially insane." not giving the Black Swordsman a chance to pretend to be offended she continued. " The Red Knight is someone that appears when he wants to and doesn't when he doesn't want to. So if you want to find him then you better find a reason to make him appear." the Rat finished as Kirito sighed frustrated.

" Well here's your 100 col Argo. See you later!" To which she nodded catching the sack of coins. Outside, as Kirito closed the door behind him, he could see someone that fit the description of the Red Knight to a tea. Approaching the hooded player were a group of players who were at least level 45, and they looked like they meant business. The hooded guy attempted to avoid them, but he was surrounded by at least 5 players.

" Heh... look at this big shot with his blood red coat." one of them said, attempting to sound intimidating. " Yeah look at his fancy ass sword. Think you look cool, well think again loser!" Their leader shouted swinging his axe at his victim's throat. Kirito rushed over to help only to stopped in his tracks as the hooded player moved with such speed that after a couple of blindingly fast swings and thrusts all the enemy players fell dead as they disintegrated into polygons. He took a look at Kirito pulled his hood off and said, " I hear you're looking for me Black Swordsman."

After their encounter the Red Knight led him his magnificent home which cost him 5 mega col. The Red Knight furnished it with the bones and fur of countless monsters that had dropped them, but what had really captured Kirito's attention was a collection of swords that were protected behind a thick see through crystal. One in particular had this sort of glow around it. Of course his host wouldn't let him touch it. The Red Knight brought him up the grand stairway, through one of the many doors and out into a balcony with a view of the entire valley. For a moment Kirito was at peace with himself, the environment, and the game. What he wouldn't give for a view like this.

" Enough of being awestruck... trust me if you wake up and have to look at this view all day... you understandably get sick of it." the Red Knight said as our hero snapped out of his trance. " What did you want to talk about Kirito" he continued.

" Well... you see I heard through the Rat that you have a rare S-rank material known as _**thoradite**_ and that you have a big supply of it." the Red Knight looked annoyed and bored before speaking up, " Bullshit, Kazuto tell me the real reason why you want to talk to me after all these years." He shouted, but Kirito didn't budge and looked him in the eye " You know why Jin! You should be helping us clear the game instead of staying in the lower floors and killing all the mobs and clearing all of the dungeons by yourself! You're wasting your potential!" Kirito had exploded with anger as his old friend Jin sent a punch that nearly threw him of the balcony.

" You think I don't help! Guess who clears the mob hideouts before most of the clearers even get to the floor! I took down all of the mini bosses so that the clearers don't have to worry about them! I am the Red Knight, the most renowned player in the game! What are you Black Swordsman!?" he shouted in anger as he kicked Kirito, who held his stomach in pain. Kirito stood up and wiped away the blood and replied to his earlier statement " I am the best player! What are you Red Knight!" He then challenged Jin to a fight and they both pulled out teleportation crystals and teleported them to an arena. They waited until the entire arena was filled with players to start the duel.

Shortly before the duel Kirito had a talk with Asuna, Klein, and Agil. " I know that I have a shit chance of winning even with my duel blading skills, he's just to fast and his Absolute Attack ensures that he gets a critical hit that is unblockable." He said to his friends and in game wife. Asuna looked at him with a worried look and he smiled " Don't worry, he won't kill me." that seemed to relieve the Lighting Flash. She then smiled and hugged him tightly and whispered into his ear " Kick his ass."

Heading out he could see hundreds if not thousands of players watching them from the stands. He looked across and spotted his opponent, who was without the blood red cloak that had helped him garner the name the Red Knight. Kirito then sent a duel request as they stood 20 feet away from each other. As the duel request was accepted and the counter started it's minute long count down, Kirito thought up a plan that had a piss poor chance of being a success. '_ Alright... disable, or stun him then follow up with the __**Starburst Stream**__ ,got it... but what if that doesn't work...then I'm screwed!'_ a bead of sweat dripped down his forehead as the countdown reached 30 seconds. Gripping the handles of his blades even tighter he got into a stance and narrowed his eyes as he focused on the man in front of him.

His opponent didn't look nervous in the slightest. As the timer struck zero all anyone in the stadium could see was a giant dust cloud, but just because they couldn't see the action doesn't mean the crowd couldn't hear it. All around the arena everyone could hear the clanging of sword on sword. When the cloud finally cleared they saw Kirito barely dodge a sword thrust. He then spun around and blocked an incoming slash to the side and swung and jumped at the same time in order to dodge another thrust.

Jin then countered with powerful downward slash that shook Kirito to the core. Our hero then unleashed another S_**tarburst Stream**_. The Red Knight still managed to keep up and either blocked or parried his attacks. ' _How can he keep up!?' _he shouted in his thoughts. While blocking his attacks Jin switched blades mid combat to his _**Lightning Piercer**_. His new sword gave him a speed boost. Kirito paled as Jin became even _**faster**_.

Kirito was becoming more desperate as he unleashed he unleashed one of the _**Dual Wielding **_weapon skills: _**The Eclipse.**_ Even with a 27- hit combo _**sword skill**_ Jin still managed to keep up with his incredible speed. Kirito had no choice but to use untested techniques such as the _**Venom Stride **_which when activated, causes a poison debuff to the opponent with every strike. But Kirito tossed that aside as he most likely would have to land an actual hit for the debuff to work, he thought about using _**Terror Tornado**_ but that had an abysmally small hit box. He blocked one of Jin's attacks by countering with _**Terror Tornado, **_while it had an abysmally small hit box it was useful for blocking and parrying attacks.

Having exhausted all of his ideas Kirito had resorted to doing starburst stream as much as he could. Kirito was starting feel the fatigue as the fight dragged on, he also knew that the durability of his swords was slowly turning into shit. Needing a bit of a boost he jumped far back and took out a potion which relieved him of his fatigue.

Kirito then jumped back into action and unleashed a barrage of slashes and swings, his opponent however was still too fast and easily kept up with his own barrage of strikes. ' _Damn it! I'm getting nowhere with this,_' our hero then began to spin around rapidly as the Red knight released a series of sword skills in rapid succession. All around were the screams of the audience, he looked to the side and saw the grim look on Asuna's face. Returning to the fight he barely blocks a powerful downward slash by Jin and counters with thrust and a swing that are parried.

Jin retaliated with one of the most powerful skills in the game: _**Sun Flash, **_his sword began phasing in and out of a bright gold colour due to the twin golden streams swirling around his sword, he then thrusted his blade forward and released a golden energy spear. Kirito barely dodged his imminent doom by reflecting it upward into the air. ' _How did he get that attack? You have to max out your __**sword**__**skill**__ in order to use the last tier of __**sword skills**__ ?'_

He didn't have time to contemplate this as his former friend's sword then began to glow a blood red as he activated an unknown skill that caused everyone to tense up as Kirito felt like the gravity increased tenfold. ' _What is this... what..d...did he do!_ ' While Kirito looked sluggish and slow the Red Knight looked like a bolt of lighting as he delivered slash after slash and thrust after thrust. As Kirito recovered, he unleashed another sword skill, his unique skill: _**Absolute Attack**_. Kirito felt the full power of an unblockable critical hit as his health bar dropped to the red zone.

Stumbling back, Kirito looked like he could barely keep himself up. Jin, however continued an unrelenting series of strikes. He didn't give Kirito any time to recover. While he was having a hard time keeping himself up, he was having an even harder time keeping himself alive. The raven-haired boy then fell to his knees as he passed out, conveniently that had saved him from being decapitated.

Waking up, Kirito felt like a lot eyes were trained on him. Having fully opened his eye, he see's all of his friends looking at him with worried eyes, especially Asuna. " Kirito-kun! You're alright!" She shouted as she hugged him with tears dripping down her cheeks and onto his shirt. He smiled as Klein patted him on the back and Agil and Lisbeth congratulated him on surviving. Kirito then stood up, went to the balcony of house and stare at the horizon As he went outside his house he spotted someone he thought would never appear. It was Jin! " What are you doing here!?" he heard Asuna shout with anger.

"I've come to talk with Kirito." he calmly replied as Asuna charged at him only to be stopped by Kirito as he gripped her hand and calmly allowed him enter their home. " So what do you want?" Kirito said as they sat down and drank some tea. Jin took a sip before lowering his cup and answering " As you know people have tried to find a way to escape" to which he nodded, " I believe I have found a way to truly escape... but I need your help." Kirito looked at him with wide eyes before consulting everyone else in the room. He looked back at Jin and said " Of course, as long as you join us in beating the next boss should this fail. Do we have an agreement?"

**So this is my new story, do you like it? Read and review by the way**

**This story is place after Heathcliff revealed himself to be Kayaba Akihiko. This is if Kirito didn't accept his offer of a one on one.**


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